The Washington Capitals could be without forward Andre Burakovsky for the next few games after he left Thursday’s matchup against the Detroit Red Wings with a hand injury.
Capitals head coach Barry Trotz told reporters after the 6-3 win that Burakovsky’s injury looks to be “longer term” and that the winger could be out for “some time.” He did not know if the injury will require surgery.
“I’ll probably have a better update tomorrow, but he’s going to miss a little bit of time here,” Trotz said.
The 22-year-old (today is his birthday) blocked a shot from Brendan Smith with his right hand near the end of the first period, and left shortly after. He did not return.
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“We have one game until our break, so Zach Sanford will go in,” Trotz said. “He’s done a really good job in Hershey. We’ll reassess it after that point. We’ve got five days to sort of figure out what we’re going to do there. It’ll probably be a little more longer term. It’ll be a week or two that we can sort of play with, so the next guy that comes up will probably have some time, and we’ll give him some games and we’ll see where we go from there.”
The Capitals will host the Anaheim Ducks Saturday night, after which Washington will take its five-day bye week.
